Pouring of the Sun & All That Fall There are numerous techniques that can be used in a performance to help create the world of a story for the audience. Props, backdrops, and costume are just three of many tools that effectively aid actors in creating this world. All That Fall by Samuel Becke...

Closer, performed on November 26, 2000 at the Mark Taper Forum, was an excellent show. The play is about two men and two women who are thrown together by chance. Throughout the play, they connect, disconnect and reconnect in bewildering combinations with each other as they try to get \"closer\" All ...

"Actors, never feel your bodies, make your bodies feel you." This quote comes from one of the most gifted stage and screen actors alive. Kevin Spacey has truly mastered the art of both theatre and film acting, although clearly this is not an easy task. These two extremely different types of actin...

The production of \"In On It\" contains three separate yet intertwined plots. The first story introduced is one of a man who is dying of an incurable disease and whose marriage is on the verge of divorce. Next comes the post-modern story of two actors quarreling over the best way to act out the play...

Design Production Plan WEEK ONE The initial design concepts are discussed. The team of designers will focus their attention this week on the poster and leaflet design. This initial layout is already in place on the first draft of the poster, as you can see elsewhere in the presentation booklet, but...

I approached this first rehearsal having written detailed notes on my directorial plans. The notes contained step-by-step stage directions as well as help with characters, and were given to the actors at the start of the rehearsal. My thoughts in doing this were that it would hopefully make it easi...

Atomic warfare is, and always has been, at the mind of the world\'s population; so many questions are left unanswered, and some are still undiscovered. But do we know what really happened at the meeting between Bohr and Heisenberg, two atomic physicists who met during World War Two? This is the focu...

When you go to the theater you may never see your name in lights but your role as an audience member is just as important as the star of the show. A play never really exists until it is performed in front of an audience. That makes an audience what the art of playwriting is all about, it's th...

Of all of the works of William Shakespeare, his play A Midsummer Night's Dream has, perhaps, been readapted on stage and on film in more ways than any other. These film adaptations extend from groups remaining absolutely true to the original text to those who alter a great deal to either modernize ...

For nearly every performer, stage fright is a very common state of mind. A sudden anxiety for either hurrying the performance, or not performing at all are rather mild symptoms of the dreaded stage fright. Many people in the theatrical field have to deal with stage fright at some part of their care...

The production of Hair was a musical melodrama that focused on the youth of the 1960s, and the tribulations that young people faced. It dealt with what the hippie generation valued most, and also what they feared. The episodic plot chronicled the life of Claude, a young man who was drafted into the ...

While watching a performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the work of the director was quite clear. I often have trouble trying to determine how much of an influence the director actually has on a production by observing acting choices and design choices. What made the directorial choices so cle...

The off-Broadway show \"Jitney\" is based on a dramatic play by August Wilson. The production was held at the Union Square Theater. The house has a very pleasant, cozy, and warm atmosphere. The structure of the small theater and its thrust stage successfully achieves intimacy. It also creates a ...

RagtimeThe play Ragtime is set in New York in 1906. This musical is very intriguing because the story of the characters in quite emotional. The actions that take place in this play are very embellished. In order to portray some of the dramatic scenes of the play, the actors must use exaggeration ...

“Machinal” was a wild and crazy ride through the life of a fatalistic women, distraught by the stress, complexity, and monotony of society. Helen (the main character) gives an outstanding performance. I know that its not unusual to the actor but it always amazes me how the actors memor...

\"The Misanthrope\" was not similar to anything one might expect to see in a modern-day theatrical production. The dialogue was hard to understand as an audience member. Moliere\'s play is done in classic verse format, meaning that the play was done completely in rhyme. An additional obstacle for th...

In the Arden\'s performance of Tom Stoppard\'s \"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,\" the production is able to surprise the audience with a brilliant display of theatricality. Tom Stoppard has even said he enjoys the theater because it incorporates many different characteristics, which help to...

"MacBeth", although one of Shakespeare's greatest works, disappointed me when seen on stage. Usually, acting captures the raw emotion and depth of a character's feeling. However, in this recent portrayal, I found there was a great lack of true sentiment resulting in confusion and...

The word darkness has figurative meaning that far surpasses its literal meaning. Darkness is the lack of light in a particular environment, but to Shakespeare and many other playwrights it signifies so much more. The evils that lurk in the night, the lack of foresight into the future, the distorti...

The play \"Run for Your Wife,\" by Ray Cooney and directed by Mackey Skinner, touches on bigamy and homosexuality in a comical way. Performed beautifully by The Baytown Little Theatre and produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., the production runs weekends from June 10th through J...

The theatrical performance Copenhagen is an first-rate insight to human correlation and the ins and outs of the human mind. The plot is difficult to follow and confusing at times, but this is not where Copenhagen shines, rather, its appeal comes through its deep perception of subtle differences i...

A Midsummer Night\'s Dream is an excellent, humorous play written by Shakespeare. It is highly characteristic of Shakespeare, bringing several subplots into one masterful story. I have seen this play presented in a classical format and I found it thoroughly entertaining. Directed by Robin McKee, ...

I have never been to a live play performance, but I have seen one on video. I loved it as though I was reading a great storybook; being able to stop at any time and pick up where I left off, but I never thought about the relationship between the performers and the audience. Nor did I think of the i...

How can one describe any of Beckett\'s work? It is truly difficult to even begin to convey what his productions might stand for. If there were only one word to describe Beckett\'s work, it would have to be \"unique,\" for seldom does one come across theater so innovative. To acquire a taste of ...

Black and White. Night and Day. Sight and Sound. Cloud Nine and The Wallpaper Psalm. What do all of these pairings share in common? The fact that they are opposite extremes. This is definitely the case regarding the last coupling. Cloud Nine is a theatrical work with its roots placed in visual soil ...